CSX track improvements allow restoration of direct Pan Am-New Brunswick Southern interchange in Maine

CSX reached a milestone on the former Pan Am Railways on Monday, Dec. 4, when it ran the first train in nearly five years between Old Town, Maine, and the New Brunswick Southern interchange at Mattawamkeag, Maine.

The 45-mile stretch of the former Maine Central was out of service and previously had speeds restricted to 10 mph. CSX has upgraded the line to Federal Railroad Administration Class II standards, permitting 25-mph operation, and 15 miles of the line is now up to FRA Class III track standards that permit 40-mph running. CSX also has upgraded trackage between Waterville and Old Town, which had been limited to 10 mph operation.

“With increased speeds and improved track, CSX will now be able to interchange with New Brunswick Southern Railway at Mattawamkeag, which will save approximately two to three days in transit time between Mattawamkeag and New Brunswick, Canada,” CSX said in a Dec. 1 update to the Surface Transportation Board.

The interchange traffic previously moved under a haulage agreement with Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s former Central Maine & Quebec via Northern Maine Junction.

A pair of former Pan Am C40-8s, which were originally CSX units, delivered 47 cars to the New Brunswick Southern interchange on Monday evening. The New Brunswick Southern has a haulage agreement with sister J.D. Irving short line Eastern Maine Railway, which operates the former Canadian Pacific trackage from the New Brunswick border to Mattawamkeag and on to Brownville Junction, the interchange with CPKC.

CSX, which acquired Pan Am Railways in 2022, also told the STB that by the end of the year it will complete projects at the Pan Am Southern yard in Ayer, Mass., that “will allow for increased fluidity and capacity for the critical link between the CSX system and the PAR System, in addition to improving the PAS System. CSX anticipates that the increased reliability resulting from these projects will continue to encourage new customers to ship via rail rather than truck.”

Pan Am Southern, which includes the former Boston & Maine main line between Ayer and Mechanicville, N.Y., is a joint venture with Norfolk Southern. Genesee & Wyoming’s Berkshire & Eastern is the operator of the Pan Am Southern.

Traffic on the Ayer-Mechanicville Patriot Corridor remains steady, CSX told the board.